In the information age, some businesses have a need to monitor wireless traffic across their wireless networks. For example, as of 2014, libraries within the United States provide reports via the Public Libraries Survey (PLS) on the number of wireless sessions at each library's wireless network. Such data is collected from approximately 9,000 public libraries across the United States. The statistics related to such wireless sessions provided by the PLS may serve to monitor trends for the development of policies and/or future initiatives.
Counting the number of visitors on a wireless network, however, is not straightforward because there is no standard definition for what a wireless session entails. For example, a visitor to a library wireless network may first log on at 10 a.m., then leave at 11 a.m., only to return at 2 p.m., finally leaving the library at 4 p.m. The wireless session count may be one, based on the individual user, or two, based on the number of times the individual user logs into the system. Both statistics may be relevant in use and statistical analysis for future trends.
Additionally, many library-owned devices may use the library wireless network in addition to visitor devices or devices within the library for public use on the wireless network. The library-owned devices may result in additional wireless sessions that do not reflect accurate use of the wireless network by the public. For example, library routers, a librarian's cellular telephone, and other devices may use the library wireless network; however, these devices may not be a relevant statistic for wireless session counts of visitors to the library, or inflate the number of wireless session counts unintentionally.
One method for counting wireless sessions may be to instruct a librarian to perform a manual headcount of everyone thought to be using the wireless network throughout the day. Another option is to have each library user click on an Acceptable Use policy in order to log into the wireless network. These options, however, provide inaccurate wireless session counts and are inflexible for monitoring such counts as well.
Thus, there is a need to provide accurate wireless session counts for devices on a wireless network.